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President Donald Trump will deliver a primetime address Wednesday as his overall approval has slipped below 40 percent and public concern about rising prices has grown. The speech comes after a stretch of campaign events and White House appearances aimed at shifting attention back to the economy and border security. Polling released this week shows … Read more

Lead The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today that it will review and potentially rescope the research and observational functions carried out by the NSF-funded National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The agency said the review aims to ensure continued world-class support for weather modeling, space weather research and forecasting, and other essential capabilities. As … Read more

Lead On Wednesday the Senate approved the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), authorizing roughly $901 billion in defense spending and a 3.8% military pay raise. The measure won bipartisan backing but also inserted new oversight demands, including pressuring Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to deliver unedited video and orders tied to recent strikes on alleged … Read more

Lead The New York Knicks will not add an NBA Cup championship banner to the rafters of Madison Square Garden, league sources told The Athletic and The New York Times on December 17, 2025. The club plans a fan celebration before its Friday home game against the Philadelphia 76ers but views the Cup as a … Read more

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Wednesday that the Oscars telecast will move from traditional broadcast to a streaming-only platform beginning in 2029, with YouTube securing exclusive global rights through 2033. ABC, which has aired the show for decades, will continue to carry the ceremony through 2028, including the centennial edition. … Read more

Lead: President Donald Trump on Dec. 16, 2025 vowed a “complete and total blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers moving in and out of Venezuela, a move that comes as U.S. and maritime trackers report dozens of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean. A new analysis obtained by CNBC from trade intelligence firm Kpler shows at least … Read more

Lead The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has agreed to a multi-year deal with YouTube to stream the Oscars beginning in 2029, the Academy announced on Wednesday. The arrangement covers the 101st Academy Awards and will run through 2033, shifting domestic live distribution from broadcast television to a Google-owned platform. Red carpet coverage, … Read more

Lead On Dec. 17, 2025, Xcel Energy initiated a public safety power shutoff at 10 a.m., cutting service for about 50,000 customers along Colorado’s Front Range to reduce wildfire risk amid extreme winds and very dry conditions. The outages affect residents in Boulder, Clear Creek, Jefferson, Larimer and Weld counties; Denver County is not expected … Read more

Scientists have revised the ancestry of the skeleton long labelled the “Beachy Head Lady,” concluding that DNA does not support recent sub‑Saharan roots. The remains, recovered from Eastbourne Town Hall in 2012 and radiocarbon dated to between 129 and 311 AD, show a genetic profile closely matching people from rural Britain. Researchers estimate the young … Read more

Lead: U.S. equities saw notable intraday swings on Dec. 17, 2025, as a handful of large-cap and cyclical names — including Oracle, Jabil, Paramount and Texas Pacific — emerged among the session’s biggest movers. Traders reacted to company-specific news, analyst activity and broader market flows during the midday window (around 12:00 p.m. ET), producing outsized … Read more

Lead: On Dec. 17, 2025, the Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.25 billion with an advertised cash option of $572.1 million, heading into Wednesday night’s drawing in Tallahassee. The prize rose after the previous drawing produced no jackpot winner; the last jackpot-winning tickets were sold Sept. 6, 2022, when two tickets split a $1.787 … Read more

Lead: Former Special Counsel Jack Smith appeared on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to brief a House Judiciary committee behind closed doors about his two closed criminal inquiries into President Donald Trump. In his prepared remarks, Smith said his teams had “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Mr. Trump engaged in a scheme to overturn the … Read more

Lead: A new reanalysis of Cassini spacecraft data by a team led at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory suggests Saturn’s moon Titan may lack a single, global subsurface ocean. The researchers report evidence for a thick outer ice shell and deeper layers of slush with isolated pockets of liquid water, based on timing measurements of Titan’s … Read more

Lead As of Dec. 17, 2025, more than a tenth of sitting members of the U.S. Congress have indicated they will not hold their current seats after the 2026 midterm elections, citing retirements, redistricting and runs for other offices. NPR’s tracker counts 54 lawmakers — 10 senators and 44 representatives — who announced departures or … Read more

Lead: On Wednesday, December 17, 2025, Google announced that its vibe-coding toolkit Opal is now built into the Gemini web app, enabling users to create and reuse AI-powered mini-apps called Gems. The integration places Opal inside the Gems manager and adds a visual, no-code editor that converts natural-language prompts into ordered steps. Users can refine … Read more